FAQ

CALICO is open to everyone! However, only teams of pre-college students are eligible to win prizes.

We define "pre-college student" as anyone who has not entered college/university.

Once you've registered, you can expect an email from us after the registration deadline about how to access the contest site. For more information on this, see "Contest Autograder Logistics" under our Contest Guide.

In the meantime, check out our "Preparing for the Contest" checklist, also found on our Contest Guide!

If you know how to work with conditions, loops, strings, and integers, you can start solving problems! At a higher level, our problems give students a preview into concepts taught at various classes within Berkeley's CS department. Regardless of whether you're just starting out or a seasoned programmer, there will be something for you!

All you need is a computer running an approved programming language, a text editor to work with, and a stable internet connection! For a list of approved programming languages, see "Approved Languages" under our Contest Guide.

A maximum of 3 people are allowed to be on a team for CALICO. You're free to have smaller teams, but it's more fun with friends!

Yes! We will be holding an in person contest again this Fall, at the same time as the regular online contest. It will be held on the University of Calfornia Berkeley. Keep an eye out for more information!

The following prizes will be awarded to the winning teams (1 per team):

  • 1st Place: $500 Amazon Gift Card + $200 X-Camp Discount Code
  • 2nd Place: $250 Amazon Gift Card + $150 X-Camp Discount Code
  • 3rd Place: $100 Amazon Gift Card + $100 X-Camp Discount Code
  • 4th & 5th Place: $50 Amazon Gift Card

All X-Camp discount codes are per student on the winning team!

All other students will additionally receive X-Camp discount codes!!

We will also be raffling off the following prizes to individual contestants:

  • 5x $200 X-Camp New Student Tuition Certificates
  • 2x 1 Month Discord Nitro Subscription
  • 6x $10 Gift Card (Amazon, Steam, Apple/Google Play, League of Legends)
  • 1x Brick*

More information on how the raffle will be run and how you can participate can be found under "Raffle Logistics" on our Contest Guide!

All prizes will be distributed to the winning teams following the contest.

*Available for shipping to US only

Check out our Contest Guide to learn about the rules, the structure of the contest, and other technical details!

We've condensed most of the crucial information in this one-page cheat sheet!

If you have a question, don't hesitate to email us at team@calico.cs.berkeley.edu! Feel free to also reach out to us on Discord.